This invention relates to cord lock devices for releasably retaining two cords (which may typically be opposite ends of a single cord) against longitudinal movement, as for instance for retaining a drawstring, shoestring, or the like in a tightened condition.
The devices of the invention are of a known general type including a body containing a passage through which the two cords extend, and a slide located at least partially within the passage and movable relative to the body between a locking position in which it retains both of the cords against longitudinal movement in a predetermined direction, and a released position permitting such movement of the cords. The slide may be located between the two cords and act in the locking condition to wedge the cords in opposite directions against two converging side walls of the passage to effectively grip the cords and positively prevent their longitudinal movement.
One characteristic of most previously proposed cord locks of this type which has limited their use for certain purposes resides in the fact that even in the released or loose condition of the cords both of the cords usually remain attached to the cord lock device, and thus remain attached to one another through that device. This prevents use of these prior devices in situations in which the garment or other item is of a type requiring or rendering desirable complete separation of the cords from one another in the released condition for facilitating removal of the garment from a user, or for other purposes. For example, when the cords being retained are the opposite ends of a shoestring, it is much easier to remove the shoe if the ends of the string can be completely detached from one another. Most prior cord locks permit such detachment of one of the cords from the device only by pulling the cord longitudinally from the passage in the body of the device. Subsequent reattachment of the cord to the device then requires meticulous threading of the cord back through that passage, a procedure which is sufficiently difficult and time consuming to essentially preclude use of such a device for retention of shoestrings.